FABACEA 231 



Macfadyen (Flor. Jam.) The bark of the root of Piscidia erythrina is a 

 usual fish poison in Jamaica, and yields a highly narcotic and diaphoretic 

 tincture. Several of the Tephrosias have the same qualities. The barks 

 of Andira and Geoffroya are anthelmintic, purgative, and narcotic. The 

 seeds of Ervum ervilia are said to cause loss of power in the limbs, almost 

 amounting to paralysis. 



A variety of other indications are fulfilled by many of these plants, for 

 instance, the hair of the pods of Mucuna pruriens is anthelmintic, and an 

 infusion of the root is in much repute in India in cholera. Euchresta Horsfieldii 

 is esteemed by the Javanese as a specific against poisons of all kinds. The 

 leaves of the Indigofera anil are used in India in hepatitis, and a decoction of 

 the root of Tephrosia purpurea considered efficacious in dyspepsia and tym- 

 panitis. 



In addition to all this, a great number of species are employed in the arts. 

 Some of them furnish a strong fibre used as a substitute for hemp, thus the 

 Crotalaria juncea affords the material, from which gunny bags are made. 

 The Dipterix odorata bears the aromatic seed known under the name of 

 Tonka, so much used to scent snuff. Several species of Meliblotus are used 

 to flavour Chapziger cheese. Several afford timber of excellent quality, as 

 the Robinia pseudacacia or locust, some species of Dalbergia, &c. But it 

 would be an almost endless task to enumerate all the qualities and uses of 

 the numerous plants of this sub-order. 



Baptisia. — Ventenat. 



Calyx bilabiate, 4 cleft. Corolla papilionaceous, petals many, equal, vexillum reflected 

 laterally. Stamina 10, unequal, free. Legume ventricose, many-seeded. 



The species composing this genus were formerly included in Sophora, by 

 Linnseus ; in JPodalyria, by Michaux, and others; but finally erected into a 

 distinct one by Ventenat. They are all perennial plants, and natives of North 

 America, and are twelve or fourteen in number, generally with yellow, but 

 in some cases with white or blue flowers. 



B. tinctoria, R. Brown. — Glabrous, much branched, leaves nearly sessile, ternate, leaf- 

 lets obovate, or cuneiform ; racemes terminal, few-flowered ; legumes ovate on long 

 pedicels. 



Brown, Hort. Kew. iii. 6 ; Torrey and Gray, El. i. 386 ; Barton, Veg. 

 Mat. Med. ii. 53 ; Rafinesque, Med. Fl. i. 79 ; Lindley, Flor. Med. 237 ; 

 Sophora tinctoria, Linn. Spl. Fl. 584 ; Fodalyria tinctoria, Willdenow, Sp. 

 Fl. ii. 503. 



Common Names. — Wild Indigo; Horsefly weed; Rattle bush, &c. 



Foreign Names. — Indigo trefle, Fr. ; Farbende Baptisia, Ger. 



Description. — Root perennial, large and woody, very irregular, blackish externally, and 

 yellowish within, with numerous, lighter-coloured radicles. Stem two or three feet high, 

 round, yellowish-green, smooth, marked with black dots, much branched ; branches slen- 

 der, and of a yellowish colour. Leaves alternate, small, formed of three sessile, obovate, 

 smooth, bluish-green leaflets, with minute, evanescent stipules. Flowers yellow, in small, 

 loose spikes at the ends of the branches. Calyx campanulate, bilabiate, upper lip entire 

 or emarginate, lower trifid. Stamina included, deciduous. Ovary stipitate, bearing a 

 minute stigma. Legume bluish-black, inflated, oblong, with a row of small seeds. 



The Wild Indigo is shrub-like, and is found in most parts of the United 

 States in dry situations, though sometimes to be met with in marshy, low 

 ground. It flowers in July and August, when its bright yellow blossoms ren- 



